Southern Conference 2023-24
Tournament Winner: Samford University
Regular Season Champion: Samford University
Southern Conference Final: Samford University - East Tennessee State University 76-69 ETSU (Brooks Savage): Ebby Asamoah 18, Jaden Seymour 7, Karon Boyd 8, Quimari Peterson 17, Allen Strothers 5, Tyler Rice 6, Jadyn Parker 4, DJ Hughes 2, Gabe Sisk 0, Braden Ilic 2, Maki Johnson 0, Justice Smith 0, Jaxson Jones 0 Standings 2023-24
#
Team
W-L
Stats Leaders 2023-24
PPG
RPG
APG
SPG
BPG
 WCU Southern Conference Final  Samford University won Championship of Southern Conference
 No. 1 Samford wins the SoCon Tournament title-Mar 12, 2024
MOP Achor scores 25 to lift the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000 Erupting for a game-high 25 points and making 78 percent of his field goals, Bulldogs forward Achor Achor (6'9''-F) propelled No. 1 seed Samford to a 76-69 victory over No. 7 seed ETSU in the 2024 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship Game Monday night at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina. The win was the Bulldogs’ 29th of the season–second only behind James Madison (31) in most victories by a NCAA Division I school this season–and clinched Samford’s first NCAA Tournament berth in 24 years. Samford (29-5), ranked No. 11 in the CollegeInsider’s Mid-Major Top 25 poll as the two-time reigning SoCon regular-season champions, won the game at the free throw line. The Bulldogs made 25-of-37 foul shots (68%), compared to 15-of-29 (52%) for the Buccaneers. Ranked fifth nationally in scoring (86.3 ppg) behind only Alabama, Kentucky, Arizona and Wright State, Samford’s high-powered offense took a backseat to its stout defense. Coach Bucky McMillan ’s club, which played 11 players and substituted liberally, forced 19 ETSU turnovers and also garnered nine steals and five blocks on the evening. Achor, a junior from Melbourne, Australia, reeled off back-to-back highlight reel nights in the SoCon tournament. In the Bulldogs’ 84-77 semifinal win over Furman Sunday, he scored a game-high 28 points, connected on 80 percent of his field goal attempts (12-for-15) and corralled 14 rebounds. In tonight’s title game, he was near perfect again from the field, netting 7-of-9 attempts, and also grabbing a team-high nine rebounds, four block shots and two steals. Achor averaged 21.7 points and 9.0 rebounds, shooting 65.3 percent from the field (23-of-35) in his three tournament games. His sterling performance earned him the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player Award. Jermaine Marshall (6'6''-F-2000) followed close behind with 23 points on 7-of-14 from the floor and eight rebounds, while Jaden Campbell (6'5''-G-2000) added 11 points for the Bulldogs. Quimari Peterson hit a jumper to slice Samford’s lead to 46-43 early in the second half, but Campbell followed with a pair of 3-pointers to give the Bulldogs a 52-43 cushion at the 15:30 mark. Upset-minded ETSU would not fold, however. The Bucs proceeded to run off an 8-2 spurt to cut the lead to 65-64 on an Ebby Asamoah (6'5''-G) turnaround jumper with 6:08 on the clock. Samford staved off the rally and widened the lead to 69-64 on a Rylan Jones layup and two Achor free throws with 5:26 left. ETSU missed four straight free throws in the final 14 seconds of the game, as the tournament favorites hung on for the win. ETSU missed four of its first five shots from the field and committed three turnovers in falling behind, 11-2, in the first two-and-half minutes of the game. The Bucs, showing the resiliency that has been their trademark in the tournament, scrambled back and wrestled the lead, 16-15, on an Asamoah jumper and free throw at the 13:42 mark. ETSU continued to trade baskets for the remainder of the first half and trailed only 40-38 at intermission. Samford, which enjoyed a school-record 17-game winning streak earlier this season, will enter March Madness having won four straight games and 11 of its last 13 contests. It was a remarkable Cinderella ride for ETSU, which posted an 8-10 record and seventh-place finish in the regular campaign. In the tournament, the underdog Bucs demolished VMI by 32 points (98-66) in the first-round round, upset No. 2 seed UNCG, 73-62, in the quarterfinals and overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to shock No. 3 Chattanooga, 85-84, in overtime in the semifinals. In the championship game, Asamoah (18) and Peterson (17) accounted for 35 of ETSU’s 69 points. Jaden Seymour also contributed seven points and a game-high 11 boards. Asamoah was the SoCon Tournament leader with 17 3-point baskets made, which is a tournament record. RECORDS: No. 1 Samford 29-5, No. 7 ETSU 19-16 STATS TO KNOW While ETSU holds a 16-7 series lead over Samford, the Bulldogs swept all three games this season. This is only Samford’s third conference tournament title and third bid in the NCAA Tournament in program history. Samford entered this week ranked fourth nationally in bench points per game (34.47 ppg), fifth in 3-point percentage (.398), fifth in fast-break points per game (15.9) and sixth in turnovers forced per game (17.0). ETSU had its winning streak snapped at five games. Courtesy of soconsports.com SoCon Tournament Final: Samford - ETSU 76-69 SoCon Tournament Semifinals: Samford - Furman 84-77 Chattanooga - ETSU 84-85, OT SoCon Tournament Quarterfinals: Samford - Mercer 70-57 UNCG - ETSU 62-73 Chattanooga - Wofford 75-57 Western Carolina - Furman 76-79, OT SoCon Tournament First Round: ETSU - VMI 98-66 Mercer - The Citadel 84-76  All-SoCon Awards 2024-Mar 12, 2024
All-Tournament MVP:  Achor Achor (6'9''-F) of SamfordPlayer of the Year:  Vonterius Woolbright (6'6''-G) of WCUDefensive Player of the Year: Kobe Langley (6'1''-G-2000) of UNCGNewcomer of the Year: Rylan Jones (6'0''-PG-2000) of SamfordSixth Man of the Year:  Jan Zidek (6'9''-F-1999) of ChattanoogaCoach of the Year: Bucky McMillan of Samford
First Team JP Pegues (6'1''-G) of Furman Mikeal Brown-Jones (6'8''-F) of UNCG Achor Achor (6'9''-F) of Samford Trey Bonham (6'0''-PG) of Chattanooga Vonterius Woolbright (6'6''-G) of WCU
Second Team Marcus Foster (6'4''-G) of Furman Jalyn McCreary (6'8''-F) of Mercer Keyshaun Langley (6'1''-G) of UNCG Honor Huff (5'10''-PG) of Chattanooga Corey Tripp (6'3''-G) of Wofford
Third Team Jaden Seymour (6'8''-F) of ETSU Kobe Langley (6'1''-G-2000) of UNCG Rylan Jones (6'0''-PG-2000) of Samford A.J. Staton-McCray (6'5''-G) of Samford Sam Alexis (6'9''-F) of Chattanooga
All-Defensive Team Quentin Millora-Brown (6'10''-F-2000) of Citadel Jadyn Parker (6'10''-F-2002) of ETSU Kobe Langley (6'1''-G-2000) of UNCG A.J. Staton-McCray (6'5''-G) of Samford Sam Alexis (6'9''-F) of Chattanooga
All-Tournament First Team Ebby Asamoah (6'5''-G) of ETSU Quimari Peterson (6'1''-G) of ETSU JP Pegues (6'1''-G) of Furman Achor Achor (6'9''-F) of Samford Jermaine Marshall (6'6''-F-2000) of Samford
All-Tournament Second Team Jaden Seymour (6'8''-F) of ETSU Marcus Foster (6'4''-G) of Furman David Thomas (6'2''-PG) of Mercer Rylan Jones (6'0''-PG-2000) of Samford Jan Zidek (6'9''-F-1999) of Chattanooga |
Men
Women
Subscribe
Login
bZballij
